Hey VanCity poetry people,
I'm sharing this message on the VPH Forum so that as many poets as possible are up-to-date on how planning is proceeding for CFSW 2010 Ottawa.
We held a Festival Organizing Committee (FOC) meeting last night and I can tell you that planning is moving along nicely. We now have a festival schedule that is largely completed. I can update you on the broad strokes (pending some confirmations and what not):
Tuesday, October 12The festival begins with registration, orientation and the preliminary bout draw in the mid-afternoon. The evening event will include the opening celebration, a francophone showcase and the first bout of the festival. Yes, that's right, there's a bout on the first night. We have nine bouts altogether and to get them all in we need to do one on the first night. So all teams need to come prepared to slam on Tuesday!
Also, please note that THERE IS NO LAST CHANCE SLAM THIS YEAR. The FOC doesn't want anyone to be under any illusions on that point, and the earlier we let people know, the better.
There will also be a social gathering on the first night, so that people can meet and greet, catch up with each other, and do poetry tag and all the other crazy things that poets do after hours. Though not confirmed, this will probably take place in the Cartier Place Suites Hotel, where we have made our arrangements for teams to be accommodated this year.
Wednesday, October 13 and Thursday, October 14On these days, we will have workshops, panels and showcases during the afternoon. Danielle Grégoire, our Program Director, is putting the final touches on the schedule, and we'll update you with the specifics once all the facilitators and features confirm their attendance.
One thing to note is that since we have nine daytime slots (three each on Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday) all alternates will perform during the course of the festival - two at the start of each daytime slot, one poem each.
Wednesday and Thursday evenings are when the bulk of the preliminary slams take place. For the first time ever at CFSW, there will be simultaneous bouts on these days. Because of the way National Slammaster Rusty Priske has set up the pairings, CFSW 2010 Ottawa will be the first time that you will not face another team twice in prelims. That's right - you will slam off against three different teams in each of your two bouts. Amazing!
We will also have late night events after the slams on those two nights that will focus on poetry in music.
Friday, October 15At 10:30 am on Friday is the Spoken Word Canada Annual General Meeting. All poets from across Canada are invited and encouraged to attend. Obviously there will more details about this later on, but it will be a very important gathering.
After the meeting ends we hit the streets for guerrilla poetry - just as all the public servants start spilling out of their buildings to head home for the weekend. Should be interesting!
In the evening, something will happen that's never been part of CFSW before - we will have NATIONAL SLAM SEMIFINALS for the first time. With 18 teams, we thought a break to a four-team final would be unfair - it would mean teams that finished third or fourth in their first bout would already be eliminated, and teams finishing second were highly unlikely to qualify! Therefore, we will have two semifinal bouts that include the top eight teams from the preliminary round. The semifinal draw will be held at the SpoCan AGM (yet another reason for poets to attend) and the top two teams from each bout will qualify for the National Slam Finals.
There's also a large-scale afterparty in the works for Friday night.
Saturday, October 16We will have the final three daytime events in the afternoon. Then in the evening we will have our Poets of Honour perform, as well as a couple of featured performances similar to the ones held at CFSW 2009 Victoria. After that it's the National Slam Finals.
And of course, a deadly afterparty to wrap the whole thing up.
In Conclusion ...Now you're up to date on where the program is at this point in time. Sounds exciting, no? As more details become available I will keep you in the loop by posting more updates in this discussion. Please remember that you can send me information and questions at
mediacomm@cfsw.ca or by replying here and I will respond as best I can.
I would love to see the discussion this message sparks in your community, so I encourage replies to this posting!
Hope all is well out west ... you'll hear from me again soon!
In peace and poetry,
Greg Frankson aka Ritallin
CFSW 2010 Ottawa Media & Communications Director
